


ComiCraze

by tevlek



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M, convention au, cosplay au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-04 14:12:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6661756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tevlek/pseuds/tevlek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story is dedicated to EriksTrueAngel's fic: Masks, Wings, and Lofe!"</p><p>Mary Ann and her sister Donna attend ComiCraze for a weekend of comicbooks, anime, and pop culture shenangains. Mary Ann busted her butt on her costume for her hero, Violet Wings, the super heroine of the comic series "Masks, Wings, and Lofe" and she is ready to wear her proudly on the con floor. While she expects other cosplayers from the same series, she doesn't expect the nearly perfect rendition of the comic's main villain, The Goblin to cross her path.</p><p>You can guess what happens next.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ComiCraze

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EriksTrueAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriksTrueAngel/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Masks, Wings, and Lofe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4096852) by [EriksTrueAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriksTrueAngel/pseuds/EriksTrueAngel). 



> I renamed the characters in this AU so that their names would be similar to the characters we know and lofe but different at the same time. I wish I could explain why I did this...but I can't. xD
> 
> This is basically a fanfic for a fanfic and I have been working on this on and off for months.
> 
> It's not that great but I hope that the author and anyone who reads this will enjoy the story!
> 
> PLEASE, GO READ "MASKS, WINGS, AND LOFE" BY ERIKSTRUEANGEL, IT IS A GOOD STORY!!!!
> 
> Remember: THE CHARACTERS WERE RE-NAMED WITH SIMILAR NAMES!

“Three hours. It took three hours to get through that damn line!” Mary Ann snarled, grasping the lanyard tightly in her fist while Donna hesitantly patted her shoulder in an attempt at calming her down from her fury fest.

“But at least we’re out of the line now and we can actually start the convention!” she contributed, dangling her own badge by the chord then slinging it over her neck. She held up the plastic card on the end bearing a superhero in red and blue punching skyward with a purple effect blurb bearing the name of the convention in bold yellow lettering.

**ComiCraze**

Mary Ann looked at her own badge, huffing a breath that sent her bangs flying upward before she looped it around her own neck. Seeing that she was appeased, Donna began to dig through the plastic goodie bag bearing convention information. It included a schedule of the panels and main events, a few free comic books no one had ever heard of, advertisements for local vendors of geek merchandise, and coupons to the local Medieval Times. (They were so taking advantage of those before the weekend was over!) It was Donna’s habit to scour her bag as soon as they were out of line but Mary Ann saved hers for downtime in the hotel room. There was always going to be an hour or two spent waiting for a panel or a certain photo shoot so she would dig in then. Donna pulled out one of the comics and flipped through the pages while Mary Ann navigated them through the crowd, her fingers wrapping around Donna’s purse strap to pull her out of other con-goer’s ways when she strayed too far into the throng. It was only Thursday but the hotel already seemed to have remarkably cluttered halls compared to what Mary Ann had seen in the early years of the convention. 

Over the years ComiCraze had been a pretty fair-sized convention that Mary Ann had been attending since she was thirteen years old. What had started out as horribly made costumes worn on even more humiliating bus rides to the local library where the con was first hosted, had now become Mary Ann driving herself and Donna to a new location in the city where the convention had exploded into an attendance of over 24,000 guests. ComiCraze had really gained steam since the recent boom in Cosplay Videography at anime conventions. Now other cons were getting the same kind of YouTube time and with subscribers came curious fangirls and fanboys wanting to investigate the most frequently covered conventions.

Mary Ann had noticed the DSLR cameras and stabilizers all over the place last year but didn’t bother sticking around long enough to see if she would be spotted herself. Instead she attended panels and huge group photo shoots that had to be held outside in the parking lot because of the number of attendees. She bought merchandise from the Dealer’s Room and took pictures of costumes of old favorites in the halls. Eventually she and Donna had sought shelter on a spot of floor while eating over-priced Japanese candy imports and reading comics, all the while resting their aching feet from the costume shoes. This year would be pretty much the same as before, which was perfectly fine by her.

A lot can happen in a year outside of the safety bubble of a convention. College, jobs, family drama, boyfriends that become ex boyfriends because they are cheating asshole scumbags that needed to be impaled by a lightsaber…yeah, a lot can happen outside of a convention. Here, at ComiCraze, however, she was safe from all of that. Here it was a bunch of nerds, geeks, and dorks alike and it was perfectly safe aside from the occasional whiffs of pungent body odor that always managed to find its way in the hallways.  


Mary Ann tugged sharply on the purse strap again, jerking Donna out of the way of a passing baggage cart being wheeled by a group of excited teenagers. Donna finally came up for air from the comic, peering about and then looking at Mary Ann, utterly lost to what she had nearly done or why her sister glowering at her. Donna slowly shut the comic and slipped it away into the bag again, Mary Ann finally releasing her now that she had both eyes on her surroundings.

“Did you stick the room keys in your purse?”

“Yeah,” Donna patted the pink pouch with her hand. “I put them in the outer pocket so I wouldn’t lose them this time.”

“Good, we don’t want to go through that again.”

“Not when Dad paid for the room this year.” Donna muttered, Mary Ann’s eyes narrowing and she stared up at the ceiling innocently, Mary Ann stopping just outside the elevator alcove.

“I told him he didn’t have to do that. I thought you said that you booked the room with the money I gave you!” Mary Ann frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

“I was going to but then he came in and saw what I was doing…he offered to pay for the room. I put the money back into your account, didn’t you check it?”

“No, I didn’t want to know how much money I lost in getting the room.” She muttered, hating the idea of seeing just how much she wouldn’t have after the purchase but now that Dad had stepped in, she was over six hundred dollars richer again. “Donna, I didn’t want Dad to get involved.”

“I know!” Donna whined, covering her face with her hands. “He was just so sweet…I couldn’t say no.”

Mary Ann had been turning down handouts from her father for months. It was hard to accept anything anymore. Dad had forked over thousands of dollars for Mary Ann’s wedding after all. He paid for the venue, the catering, the ceremony…all of it came out of his pocket and he had done it willingly just for the sake of her happiness. Then the Roland fiasco happened and the wedding was suddenly off. It left their dad neck deep in angry phone calls demanding refunds and making cancellations to cover up the mess Mary Ann had made in her sudden cancellation. The ending result was her never wanting him to pay for something of hers ever again. Unfortunately, he still managed to step in anyway.

“Well, let’s just hope he didn’t splurge on us.” Mary Ann sighed, looking into the alcove where the six elevators stood parallel to one another. There were already lines of hotel guests bearing bulging suitcases, folded up wings, props, and wigs on Styrofoam heads waiting for lifts to their floors.  
Getting the car unpacked and getting their stuff up to wherever their room was suddenly looked very bleak.

\------------

“I don’t know how you got your hair contained, but you pulled it off!”

Glancing up into the mirror, Bo checked the cowl of his costume, fingers poking and prodding while they could before he would have to put on the gloves and minimize his finger functionality by about fifty percent. Stacia was in charge of his phone and Thomas had to carry his wallet because there was no room in this skin-hugging suit to squeeze it in without creating obvious bulges in places he didn’t need there to be. This wasn’t the Labyrinth.

“Wig caps always slip off my head so learning to braid and those cheap hair clips from the dollar store came in handy.” Bo explained, smoothing his fingers over the mask after tucking it partially into the cowl, hiding away unfinished edges that wouldn’t be seen unless someone ripped the mask off. He really did do a great job on his paint work because the seams were almost invisible even under the harsh bathroom light. “I think I managed to keep it from making a bump in the back of the head too.”

He turned his head to double check, testing the textured surface at the back with his fingers and confirmed that everything lay where he needed it to. Satisfied with his application as well as the graying make-up around his eyes and black contacts, he felt safe enough to slip the gloves on. Stacia helped him out with the right hand after he had pulled on the left himself, holding the end open for him while he dove his hand inside and wriggled his fingers into the glove while she pulled it taught. Once she smoothed it out on his arm he laced his fingers together to ensure their snugness before they moved on to the next strep where Thomas took care of helping attach the exoskeleton-like bracers that cuffed around his arms, creating jagged points at his elbows that were stiff but not enough to inflict too serious of damage if Thomas didn’t walk into one again like he had at Geek Fest last month.

Bo had put everything he had into creating The Goblin, the main villain from Masks, Wings, and Lofe, a comicbook series he had fallen into after noticing Stacia reading the first issue while they were waiting in line at the book store. After reading it over her shoulder, he took it from her and bought it rather than let her put it back on the shelf. Now, six issues later, he was thoroughly geeked out in his home-made Goblin costume that cost him well over two hundred in materials to make. If he made this damn thing any more authentic, he would have been able to fly.

Wriggling his fingers, he smirked at the convincing gray-toned flesh all hand-painted and painstakingly detailed down to the acrylic black claw-like nails looking cruel on the ends of the gloves. One more look in the mirror and he smirked at the hideous creature he had become, proud of his hard work but still feeling a bit naked in the skin-tight garb. Stacia had laughed for nearly an hour the first time he revealed how the costume would practically be a second skin, considering she knew how much he disliked his gangly frame on a good day. In a costume, however, he could feel somewhat proud of his awkward limbs; it was authentic and played to the character. He could put aside his self-loathing long enough to bring his character to life.

After all, here at ComiCraze, he wasn’t Boaz Kidman anymore. He was Bog King, The Goblin.

\------------

ComiCraze went off without a hitch that weekend. Mary Ann and Donna had spent all of Friday dressed as Bat Girl and Super Girl, saving their bigger costumes for Saturday, which was the big day of any convention. They walked the span of the convention hotel, checking out costumes and taking pictures of favorites while occasionally being stopped for pictures of themselves from other con goers. Mary Ann’s camera was crammed with pictures of every Joker she found in the halls and even one shot of the back of someone’s head in a panel because she couldn’t find them again the rest of the day. Donna had visited the panel of every voice actor she recognized from her cartoon marathons and Mary Ann waited outside of one of the ballrooms for an hour to get in to see the artist from the Violet Wings comics, swearing she would return to their booth later to show them her costume.

Yes, Friday was a day of too much merchandise from the dealer’s room, too little food, even less water, and so much walking that her feet wanted to amputate themselves by the time they collapsed in the hotel room just after midnight, ignoring the rave even though Donna pouted as a result of not going. Mary Ann pointedly reminded her that they would go on Saturday and Donna could dance her little heart out. That cheered her up but nothing got them more excited than the idea of finally donning their planned costumes the next day.

It had been worth the wait.

Mary Ann had spent well over an hour and a half preparing to go down to the con. She painstakingly applied her makeup in the bathroom mirror immediately after waking up just after seven that morning. Donna occupied the mirror in the room with her own make up but since the Dawn in the comics wasn’t as heavily made up as the Mary Ann in the comic, hers took less time and she was already putting on her costume while Mary Ann was still working with the eye pigments. She had her eyes perfect before she pulled out the spirit gum and adhered the mask to her face with careful presses of her fingers, smoothing the purple mask over her skin until she stood back and observed herself in the mirror.  


Her hair was gelled to look windswept like the cover of the first volume that had started this craze to begin with. She glanced over at it propped against the mirror and smirked when she saw it had been perfectly rendered on her own head. She admitted she looked remarkably like Violet Wings in that moment, bracing her hands upon her hips with a satisfied smile as she turned her head left and right to bask in her work. She took the comic and stored it away safely in her suitcase before she started to put on her costume.

Hours of hand sewing, machine sewing, puff paint, and even some embroidery went into creating the costume she put on. Donna was oblivious when Mary Ann stood in her underwear, slowly sliding on her tights and grinning at the skin-hugging fit that resulted in no puckers or odd stretching in the fabric when it lay smooth on her limbs. All that Googling for a mannequin leg to stretch the tights on for painting had been worth it! Her fingers ran lovingly over the golden vines before she turned and eased her tunic off of the hanger. She and Donna had ironed the shit out of their costumes Thursday night and there was nary an unwanted crease in the rose and green colored fabric when she slipped it on and fastened the high-necked collar into place, smoothing the lay of the collar and tweaking at the points on the ends.

“Mary Ann, it’s perfect.” Donna complimented, already dressed as her comic book alter ego with mask and everything.

Mary Ann smiled, glancing down at herself. “Thanks, sis.”

Violet Wings may have been a comic book but it was one that had saved Mary Ann from her depression after the cancelling of her wedding. It had taken months for Roland’s fraud trial to finally be processed and Mary Ann had fretted over him winning the entire time. She had been agonizing over it and Donna hauled her out to the book store to try and get her mind off it. They had been wondering through when she noticed the cover of Violet Wings in a display near the comic section. Mary Ann was drawn to it almost immediately.

The first issue of Masks, Wings, and Lofe bore a woman dressed in leggings and a tunic with a silver sword in her hands and great butterfly wings that glowed in a brilliant moon depicted behind her. She was in midair with a city painted all around her, the blade of her sword interlocked with what looked like the rod of a staff and a gnarled-fingered hand holding it from off the page. She read it while Donna browsed the manga section and the more pages she turned, the more she loved the comic and the heroine inside of it. She bought it that day and every issue that was released ever since. Violet Wings’ strong presence fueled her with courage and gave her hope to fight through her shattered life until a very different Mary Ann was sitting in on Roland’s trial the day it finally arrived. Mary Ann found confidence and strength because of Violet Wings and she wanted to show how much she loved it by creating the very costume she wore that day.

Donna enjoyed the series, although her connection to it was not so personal as Mary Ann’s. She enjoyed the fact that there were a lot of similarities in names and appearances between herself and people they knew with those in the story. Then there was the chance to dress up with huge butterfly wings and that was enough to sell her on the idea of matching Mary Ann for the convention. Comic Dawn was known to only wear her own costume for a brief period in the story. She was captured by the comic’s villain, The Goblin and supposedly retired it shortly afterward but there were subtle hints that Dawn wasn’t entirely done with her own hero persona yet. It was long enough for Donna to fall for the design of it and she worked hard to match Mary Ann’s attention to detail when she constructed her own costume.

They helped each other out with the wings, Mary Ann creating the mechanics of them while Donna cut the fabric of the butterfly wings to be draped over the framework. By the end of their collaboration, they had two brilliant sets of wings for their characters. Mary Ann understood what a pain that large wings could be in a crowded convention with people everywhere. She took care in creating a locking mechanism that she could use to have the wings either locked in place to be spread out to their full length but for walking she could unlatch the device and the wings would drape behind them almost like wearing cloaks whenever they needed to walk through crowds.

Donna clapped her hands and spun in a circle, the wings flaring and striking the bed but they remained undamaged and Mary Ann sighed in relief while Donna froze, apologizing with a giddy smile. They put on their boots and picked up their badges, looping them over their own heads. Mary Ann tucked her phone in a pocket she had sewn under the hem over her tunic, smoothing it out as Donna hid hers away in one of her own. They stashed their wallets and Mary Ann couldn’t resist the little jog to the door, Donna nearly at her heels when they practically ran out of the room to go back down to the convention.

They two of them barely entered the lobby and swung around into the atrium of the hotel when people were already stopping them for pictures. Mary Ann and Donna locking their wings open and standing against the wall to pose for the eager fangirls and fanboys that recognized them. The initial four people turned into nine and Donna was beside herself at the attention, preening in the flashes of the cameras while Mary Ann posed with her fake sword, trying to look determined through the absolute elation she was feeling for the appreciation of her hard work. The con goers eventually got their shots and they unlocked their wings, rejoining the crowd. There were a few panels they were interested in attending that day but they were early enough to have plenty of time to get to them.

Saturday morning left the hotel filled to the brim with convention attendees everywhere. Any spot that had been available for sitting or loitering had been filled with people trying to rest their feet or check their phones. Progress in getting anywhere in the building was slow at best thanks to the number of people but the other reason was the general mass of people wanting pictures. Eventually Mary Ann and Donna were at a standstill against a wall where people kept crowding them.

While they posed Donna pointed out a Dr. Plum that was in the area and called her over excitedly. Mary Ann and Donna flanked her, posing for more pictures as she beamed, expressing her appreciation for their costumes in between pictures before another Violet Wings was found and hustled over to join them. Mary Ann felt a bit smug over her work compared to the other person but she shook off the ugly pride and smiled at the other cosplayer. Everyone worked hard on their costumes, after all, it wasn’t her place to judge!  


They continued to pose with their sudden collection of Masks, Wings, and Lofe cosplayers but there were no villains among their little group. It was almost disappointing that no one had come forward dressed as Violet Wings’s arch nemesis The Goblin. He had a very elaborate costume, true, but Mary Ann had seen plenty of renditions of him on the internet. Then there were his henchmen, surely those couldn’t have been too complicated to not even attempt, right?

“There’s a Goblin!”

“It’s The Goblin!”

“Bring him over!”

Mary Ann lowered her sword, her ear caught by the exclamations on the spotting of someone as The Goblin. Her fingers flexed on the handle, eyes flitting over the heads of the crowd to see who had been singled out. She expected one of those people who crafted their costumes out of cardboard with a staff painted gold instead of the bronze-like coloring of the comic book depictions. Which was fine, it was still talented work with a lot of love put into it, but Mary Ann was still waiting for the wow factor one day. What she didn’t expect was seeing people shuffling apart to make room for a man who looked like he had stepped right out of the comic book himself. His armor was spot on, his staff was the correct height, width and even color, he was taller than most of the people taking pictures and he sneered at those who gasped and squealed in excitement as he came closer, two other familiar henchmen characters with him with the smallest of the trio hauling him in by his arm looking utterly beside himself the closer he came to Donna and herself.

The Goblin paused the moment he spotted them, she could see his eyes sizing them up, probably judging her costume like she had expected to judge his. Mary Ann suddenly felt self conscious of her craftsmanship even though she had worked hard on making Violet Wings as authentic as humanly possible. She only fell short on the working wings and lacked a real sword, replaced by one made from thousands of layers of paper. (Weapons policy and all that jazz.) She sheathed the sword through its loop and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring defiantly up into his face just daring him to criticize her work when Donna ruined it by squealing. She was on him in seconds and was eagerly taking over for the small henchman to drag him closer until he stood between the two of them. The Dr. Plum cosplayer shuffled to stand on the other side of Donna while the other Violet Wings grinned from ear to ear. Mary Ann’s glare was shattered the moment he shuffled into place, fingers grasping the staff rather tightly. Now that she thought about it, he was holding that thing almost like a security blanket when the impromptu costumed group pressed in together for more pictures.

They really had a crowd now, those who got their pictures began to rejoin the masses but others took their places until Mary Ann was positive she would have flashes burned into her retina for the next week. The Goblin cosplayer seemed to recover from the initial shock and had his staff lowered to the side while frowning at the picture takers. He remained in character for the remainder of the random con goers while Mary Ann couldn’t help but sneak peeks at his craftsmanship.

“Keep it moving, guys!” a staff member shouted, waving the photographers away, “Clear up the hallway here!”

Dawn pouted as the group started to dissolve. Mary Ann hadn’t realized it but she had been staring at The Goblin’s costume this entire time. There were bound to be pictures of her gawking at this guy soon to be all over the internet by now. She couldn’t help it. That thing was flawless in its creation and she was particularly fascinated by the intricate detail put into the dragonfly-like wings. Her gawking was interrupted, however, when Donna swooped in and nearly cornered him into the wall in her excitement. He pulled the staff in front of himself almost as if to ward her off as she grinned up at him, nearly dancing from one foot to the other.

“Please tell me you’re coming to the group shoot later!” 

He fidgeted before clearing his throat, easing the staff to his side and resting the tip on the floor again. “We plann’d on it.”

Was that an accent she heard?

“Great! We’ll see you there then!”

The Goblin nodded, glancing down at Mary Ann and she tensed at the dark gaze focusing upon her. After a pause, he was soon stepping away to rejoin the flow of the con crowd with his two henchmen when Mary Ann finally found her voice again.

“Great costume…” she called feebly through her own knotted tongue.

He paused, glancing back at her. She bit her lower lip, regretting the lame two words she managed to utter towards his hard work, a fist thumping awkwardly against her thigh while he continued to stare.

After a beat he flashed a shy smile at her that caught her off guard coming from such a wicked-looking creature. “Thanks.”

He and his friends left without another word.

“Oh my gosh, Mary Ann, did you see him? His costume was spot on!”

“Yeah,” Mary Ann nodded, still watching them walk away. “I saw…”

\------------

“That Violet Wings next to you was really good!” Thomas gushed, Stacia nodding as they stood in the shade of the trees creating an outer courtyard for the hotel. So far they had managed to make it through the entire convention center with a maximum twenty three stops in the process before they managed to get to the Special Effects panel that Thomans had wanted to go to. After they had finished there, they went through the artist alley where Bo posed for pictures with the artist of Masks, Wings, and Lofe before she snapped another shot of him on her phone to send to the writer she collaborated with on the series. He had been flattered to the point of flushing himself out of his costume, overheating and excusing himself outside where Stacia found him some spare shade to retreat to.

Bo removed his mask, rubbing at sweat while his claws were catching on hairs that he had previously tied back with his claws in the process. Easing off the cowl, he let it flop back a bit so that he could get some relief on his skin. Sniffing in displeasure when little hairs tickled at his forehead, he mentally reminded himself to smooth them back later before he would re-mask himself. For now he gave himself a few moments of reprieve, taking comfort in the coolness of the shade and letting the breeze hit the back of his neck. He knew the costume would get hot and it didn’t let him down but he was stifling inside of the building with the number of warm bodies shuffling about. 

“She did a good job,” he admitted while shaking his stray bangs from his eyes, checking the inside of the cowl and seeing that his wig cap had come off as he predicted it would and stuck to a bit of glue from the seam on the inside. He tugged it free, shaking it out while passing the mask to Thomas to hold for him. “I didn’t see any other Goblins today.”

“No, I didn’t either.” Stacia shook her head. “Violet Wings is easier to make, I guess.”

“True,” he snickered, smoothing stray hairs back and wriggling the wig cap back on with a huff. Stacia checked the fit and smothed some hairs under the elastic band for him where he couldn’t feel them before she eased the coal back over his head again. Thomas passed him back the mask and he pulled it on, his friends tucking the ends away with their fingers so that he wouldn’t have to worry about his claws catching on anything.

“Are you going to be alright with the photoshoot?” Stacia asked, peering up at him. “There are going to be a lot of girls there wanting to pose with you…and who knows what the crowd will want you to do when the time comes.”

“I’ll deal with it when the time comes. Most of these photoshoots are just a few poses where it looks like I am facing off with the hero anyway. It’s not like they expect us to reenact everything from the comics.”

\------------

“This is so exciting!” Donna squealed, grasping at Mary Ann’s arm while they approached the cluster of other Masks, Wings, and Lofe cosplayers collected in the courtyard. There were about eight of the heroine herself, some of them rather impressively made, and then there were three other Dawns and five Goblins, though none of them were The Goblin from the hallway photo. The Professor Plum from earlier was there with two others, the three of them already taking selfies together and several of The Goblin’s henchmen were torn between talking to people in the group or lingering next to friends on the fringes of the gathering that were not dressed up for the same series. Mary Ann was impressed by the turn out, managing to subdue her inner fangirl and play it cool while Donna squealed for her the entire walk to a free spot in the crowd. Several photographers were preparing their cameras as well, which was also impressive considering she had only seen one at a similar group photo shoot she had checked out at another convention that year.

All of the Dawns collectively squealed in a high pitched chorus as Mary Ann’s sister darted away from her side to go greet the similarly dressed characters. Mary Ann’s ears nearly gave out at the enthusiasm behind the almost ultrasonic sound, her fingers massaging at them, mindful of her pointed prosthetics. She joined the crowd and even though smiles were cast in every direction, Mary Ann didn’t feel particularly friendly. The costumes were great but even under layers of paint, fabric, and latex there were still people inside of those costumes and Mary Ann wasn’t dropping her guard because they just so happened to look like characters from her favorite comicbook series.

“Guys, let’s get this started!” one of the photographers shouted, lugging a large DSLR camera with him and a tripod while the others free formed it and started to collect in front of the pond in the hotel courtyard. Mary Ann folded her arms and waited for the usual instructions. They typically started with the main characters first and then worked their way into the side ones as time went on. After groups of the same character were done it would be time for the more poseable pictures where characters faced off their enemies or pairings were shoved together as close as the costumers were comfortable with. “Let’s get all of the Violet Wings in for now!”

Right on cue, Mary Ann stalked forward to join the others as they wormed their way out of the crowd and collected into their own smaller group. Of the eight of them, Mary Ann saw mixtures between big wings, small wings, store bought glitter wings to glossy cellophane. Some of them wore boot covers; others wore actual boots that must have been a real bitch to find. Mary Ann and two others had swords so one of them took the middle while she and the other flanked the outside of the group. She posed with the others with a myriad of options from simple smiles to fierce battle cries that all of the girls roared out in one collective burst, nearly deafening Mary Ann but she was thrilled by the enthusiasm, unable to contain the genuine smile on her face by the end of their shoots.

After the countdown to the final shots finished, the Dawns were brought in and the girls giggled and flocked forward. Mary Ann held her hand out at her side as her sister passed and Donna slapped her a discreet high five in passing before Mary Ann rejoined the crowd and took a spot against a tree while the girls started their own shoot. It was like watching a bunch of fangirls trying to pose like Japanese school girls at first. They made little peace signs near their cheeks with tilted heads or blew kisses to the camera men while leaning forward flirtatiously. Some of the girls posed with one another, holding hands and squishing their cheeks together with legs popped out and eyes winking. Several more shots were made in different poses, Mary Ann looking on in quiet amusement when she noticed someone was standing beside her under the shade of the tree.

He had come out from behind it, more out of coincidence than actual intent to creep her out but he certainly startled her when she caught The Goblin appearing at her side. She jumped at the shadow in her peripheral vision and he, in turn, nearly jumped backwards at the sound of her gasp, the two of them gawking at one another until she realized that it was the same Goblin from the hall shots that morning. She pointed at him without thinking.

“It’s you!”

“Ah—you’re from earlier!”

They both managed to speak at the same time before realizing the silliness of their own jynx, the both of them laughing nervously at themselves before Mary Ann resettled against the tree trunk and The Goblin cosplayer turned to face the others, partially leaning on the staff. She couldn’t help but glance at his costume again. Out of the five other Goblins out there, his still struck her as the most well-constructed of the bunch. It was uncanny how much like the real thing he appeared. She inwardly broke down each piece into how it could have possibly been constructed when she noticed that he was looking at her and immediately derailed her train of thought.

“Sorry,” she held her hands up, “I was ogling your costume again.”

He smiled, looking down at himself, “Yeah, a lot of blood, sweat and even tears went into this, I don’t mind if it gets a little attention today.”

“I hear that,” she nodded, watching the Dawns go into another cutesy pose. “I spent months on this costume. The wings probably could have been better but I’m still figuring out how to properly articulate them. For now, the interlocking mechanism is as good as it’s gonna get.”

The Goblin glanced over the heads of the others in the group, “That’s more than a lot of the other girls here have done. All of their wings are free-standing. At least you considered a way to keep them tamed when walking through the con.”

Mary Ann grimaced at the thought of taking out halls of cosplayers by her wingspan alone. “As entertaining as it would have been, I didn’t want my sister to be collateral damage to a wingmageddon.”

They both laughed at the idea, The Goblin shifting his staff to the other hand and bracing the now free one upon his narrow hip, mindful of the spike jutting up from the armored thigh piece on his leg. Mary Ann found herself growing a bit fidgety, her fingers interlocking and nearly tangling until she shook them apart and forced one hand to rest on the hilt of her prop sword.

“It looks like The Goblin is out numbered today,” he commented, Mary Ann watching him nod to the masses out of the corner of her eye. “Nine to six, not very good odds.”

“Even if the numbers were switched, Violet Wings would still have the odds in her favor.” Mary Ann smirked, though she didn’t know where the urge to make such a flirtatious expression came from.

The Goblin’s brow piece actually shifted with the arching of his eyebrow at the statement. “Is that so?”

“Come on, the bad guy always loses. It’s the golden rule of comics.” She braced her hands on her hips.

“That may be so but aren’t The Goblin’s and Violet Wings’ alter egos starting to fall for each other in the latest issue?” he asked, “If that relationship keeps evolving, sooner or later they’re going to find out who the other is and The Goblin will realize that he can use it to his advantage. Love is a weakness, after all. He’ll be smart enough to act on it and finally take her out.”

Mary Ann scoffed, “Please! Violet Wings swore off men! She’s not going to fall in actual love with The Goblin or his alter ego. That kiss was more out of sexual frustration than anything and it turned out to be a great decoy, against him!”

“Is that how you interpreted it?” he leaned in a little, “She never clarifies that it was a decoy in the comic.”

“No, but it’s a great tactic.” Mary Ann smirked, meeting his glower. “All men get distracted when kissing.”

“Can we get all of The Goblins in here now?” The first photographer shouted over the dozens of little conversations and her companion’s head snapped up at the call.

“You’re up,” Mary Ann nodded ahead and he rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be seeing you during the face off pictures, fairy.” He challenged, “This debate isn’t over.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” She grinned and he smirked back, leaving her side and heading through the crowd to join the others.

The moment he was no longer standing beside her, Mary Ann realized what had just happened. It might have sounded like a typical geek debate but something nagging in the back of her mind told her that she was possibly flirting with him earlier. It felt like the most natural thing to do when he was there, the convincing costume combined with her as Violet Wings, it didn’t feel like two dorks dressed up as fictional characters. For a moment it was like Violet Wings herself had possibly possessed her and led her to her taunting of The Goblin, who responded back as naturally to it as she had given it.

Out of the Goblins standing before the cameras, the one she had been talking to was the most elaborate, the most convincing, and the most in character when they posed for the pictures. He knew how to handle the staff, he could snarl and sneer with a tremendously expressive face, crouch down low with the staff extended without worrying about ripping some seam or hindered movement while the others could barely squat. His wings were iridescent while the others were just clear or painted one color. Mary Ann couldn’t shake how impressed she was of his craftsmanship, staring at his ease as the character even when Donna finally joined her under the tree. She barely heard a word her sister was saying until Donna had to physically shake her.

“I’m sorry!” she gasped when Donna looked at her, concerned.

“What’s gotten into you?” Donna asked, “Your eyes are huge right now and your mouth was starting to hang open. What or who were you staring at?”

“I wasn’t staring at anything!” she said quickly.

“I think you were,” Donna folded her arms, “I saw where you were looking. You like that Goblin cosplayer, don’t you?”

“Like as in I want to marry his costume, then yes.” Mary Ann nodded.

“Just the costume?”

“Yes.”

“Not the guy that’s in it?”

“No.”

“Mary Ann!”

“Don!” she wrinkled her nose.

Donna threw her hands up in the air with a groan before they lapsed into silence, the topic clearly unresolved but Mary Ann wasn’t going to give Donna the satisfaction of continuing it. Yes, The Goblin cosplayer was amazing and she did think about possibly befriending him in non-to-subtle ways but that was all she was going for. She was willing to take on a friend, not indulge in disgusting romantic thoughts. Though she wasn’t kidding when she said she wanted to marry that costume. It was a fine piece of craftsmanship.

The countdown started and the Goblins were released, bringing in Sunny costumers, to which there were four of, and the Plums were starting to creep in, ready for their turn. The Goblin she had been talking to went to join two henchmen, the three obviously knowing one another when they started talking amongst themselves. Mary Ann tried to look on to the actual photo shoot, pulling out her phone and snapping pictures but her camera eventually strayed and she barely even registered catching a candid of him in mid hand-waving sentence.

Each group of similar characters rotated through until at last they were finished and it was time for the more interesting shots. Mary Ann pulled Donna with her when they wanted the face off and the photographers guided the groups into poses with a few called out instructions. All of the Violet Wings stood on one side while Goblins stood on the other, Donna burst forward from Mary Ann’s side when a photographer asked for the sisters to be held captive for this shot and Mary Ann frowned when she made a beeline for The Goblin she had spoken to, hastily introducing herself. The Goblin looked confused by her eagerness but he shook her hand anyway and Donna spun around on her heel with a smile that looked too devious to be innocent, backing up against him a little more until he adjusted to accommodate the situation.

Mary Ann felt a chill when she saw his clawed fingers extend around her sister, wrapping around her upper arm while leaning his head down over her shoulder and shifting the staff so that the handcrafted thistle with its sharp points was nearly touching her sister’s neck. She came forward a bit, ready to actually charge and save her sibling when she realized that this was just a pose. What the hell was wrogn with her? She knew it was all just a pose. Other Goblin cosplayers were holding Dawns captive between holding her arm or extending threatening claw-like hands over their respective victims. Those without a Dawn to threaten just posed, ready to fight. Mary Ann collected herself and drew her sword, holding it at the ready with a hand extended towards him, pointing right at him and his smug expression while the blade arched over her head in a battle-ready position.  


Camera flashes nearly blinded her as they faced down but Mary Ann was focused on her sister and The Goblin looming behind her, eyes darting between the claws and the staff. Eventually the countdown was called and the poses relaxed, Donna spinning around again and thanking him while he straightened out of his menacing pose, his hands suddenly occupied with clutching the staff close and his expression nearly frightened by her sister’s eagerness. Eventually the pictures continued and Mary Ann rejoined him on the sidelines, Donna at one side while he was on the other.

“You’re pretty good at this posing stuff.” Mary Ann complimented off-handedly.

“You’re not bad yourself,” he nodded his head, though his hands were still rather focused on holding that staff pretty tight. He looked a bit like she had felt earlier, nearly fidgety even though his face was stoic.

Mary Ann had been so focused on the attempt at conversation, she hadn’t noticed Donna approaching one of the photographers. She didn’t see her sister tapping him on the shoulder or talking to him while indicating in their direction with her thumb over her shoulder. The photographer eventually left the others and approached Mary Ann and The Goblin, catching them off guard when he offered them his card.

“Hey, I was wondering if you guys wouldn’t mind some individual shots together. I liked your chemistry in the group photos and, if you’re up for it, I can take a few more pictures of you if you like.” He suggested while The Goblin looked at the card he gave them. “We can even do a night shoot if you want.”  
Eventually Mary Ann and he looked at one another.

“Well…uh…”

\-----------

Mary Ann took a break from her costume for a few hours after the photoshoot had ended. Unlike The Goblin, who had layers upon layers to his costume, she only had the clothes and wings to worry about. Her prosthetics were secure and her make-up wasn’t much different from her typical applications so she had no qualms in leaving the hotel room dressed in a zip-up hoodie and jeans to go find something to eat while Donna pranced around in a Cinderella costume she had been dying to wear for weeks. Mary Ann didn’t mind holding her sister’s purse while she posed for pictures or stopping continuously in the hallways since she was used to the same problem when she was in costume herself. It was a relaxing afternoon for her, going to more panels and taking some pictures of people she passed in the hallway from shows she liked outside of the comic realm.

They laughed at the improv group visiting the convention, learned how to make armor out of worbla from the cosplay guest, and Mary Ann signed up for the final Cosplay Chess the next day after witnessing how much fun it was when she and Donna attended a match. Eventually, the hour was growing late, Mary Ann admiring how Donna posed in the low light of the white marble hallway for a professional photographer that spotted her in passing. Donna really did look like a princess when she spun in a circle and the glittery fabric flared even more around her. Times like that were when Mary Ann almost missed dressing up like a princess with her sister. The days before her innocence was crushed under Roland’s boot and she switched her preferences entirely.

After the photo shoot with Donna’s Cinderella, they went to find food at the crowded food court. They had trays consisting of Subway and McDonalds and sought out a table when a familiar face caught Donna’s eye. She elbowed Mary Ann’s arm and nodded ahead to where The Goblin was sitting with his friends at a table. A table with seating available. Mary Ann swallowed at the sight of him sitting there, his gloves were gone but the fingers exposed were just as long as the gloves had made them look. They were occupied with cradling a burger between them but his mask was still in place and she almost snickered at the delicate way he leaned towards his food and took a bite, trying to keep his nose out of the bun.

Donna hurried her over to join them and asked if they could sit with them, which resulted in The Goblin nearly dropping his burger but the two henchmen were happy to let them sit down, making room on the table by scooting phones and trays aside until they could sit down. Mary Ann sat across from The Goblin and he thoughtfully went back to his burger before Donna broke the ice and started up a conversation.

What Mary Ann expected to be an awkward lunch with strangers, suddenly turned into a full blown geek debate between the table over a variety of television shows, books, comics, and video games. The Goblin’s shyness was abandoned in favor of enthusiasm when she asked if any of them had seen the rumors on the internet that Masks, Wings, and Lofe was going to be re-written as a series of novels soon. Somehow she had triggered an entirely new conversation consisting of hopes and concerns about the changes that might come from turning a comicbook into literature. Mary Ann insisted that it would be fine because it would actually bulk up the story more than the comics could do but The Goblin was a loyalist to the original concept.

They argued over the plot points that were likely to be brought in and what might be stretched to fill out the extra pages, Mary Ann cackling with her newfound debate partner more than once while partially swimming in the mass of Donna’s skirt that kept creeping over to her side of the bench no matter how many times Donna tried to pat it back down. Mary Ann found glitter in her fries and dared The Goblin to eat it but he worried he leaned far away from the sparkly fried spud. She flicked it at him and he brushed it off his lap with a frown while the whole table snickered until he shot a sharp glance at his two friends that immediately silenced them.

[i]Just like the REAL Goblin.[/i]

Mary Ann felt her cheeks warm over before she focused on guzzling down the rest of her soda.

By the end of lunch, Mary Ann and Donna established where they were going to meet their photographer for the shoots later that evening and Mary Ann was beside herself. That trio of villains were actually pretty cool people and hey, wasn’t the point of a convention to make new friends? Still, the comfort level almost scared her with how quickly she was growing fond of them…especially towards The Goblin. The entire time they had sat together, they geeked out and Mary Ann was left with the unsettling fact that this man was practically her geekdom soulmate wrapped up in one of her favorite costumes. She was on the verge of asking for his phone number before they parted ways for the rest of the afternoon when she caught herself and immediately dismissed the idea, cutting off the dangerous thoughts before the roots could go too deep in this new hope. Instead, she muttered her farewell until the photoshoot and hastily pulled her sister away with her, leaving the group still sitting down in the Food Court.

Mary Ann walked arm in arm with Donna back to their room after that, lingering in her troubling thoughts while Donna smiled knowingly at her, leaning her head on her shoulder when they reached the safety of the less crowded hallway leading to their room. In public Mary Ann would have cringed but in the private she accepted Donna’s affection more willingly, though never to the degree where she returned it like she used to. It was all a side effect of the Roland incident and while Donna didn’t know the specifics, she tried to understand the change and respect it as much as she could.

They got back into their costumes for the night shoot, Donna texting the photographer by using his card and checking to see if he would be where he said he would on time. Mary Ann dressed herself, glancing in the mirror while feeling like she was putting on battle armor. It was just a photo shoot with a costume she loved to pieces but there was still someone inside of that costume and while he had agreed to the photo shoot like she did, Mary Ann hoped that he wasn’t going to read too much into this situation like she almost did. It was for the sake of preserving their cosplay memories, honoring the comic they loved, that was all. Besides, Mary Ann was reassured that they wouldn’t be forced into anything they didn’t feel comfortable with.

Still…she couldn’t help but remember the beautiful artwork from the comicbook. The full two page spread of Violet Wings kissing The Goblin on the ground, wiping the smirk from his challenging “Go on, you know you want to do it.” right off his face. The next page revealed he kissed her back and wow, that had been a very well-depicted kiss but Mary Ann firmly chased the image out of her head along with the little niggling desire to recreate it in this photo shoot. A kiss was a kiss, it meant nothing to her as long as it didn’t extend to the degree of the comic, but what about him?

He’d never go for it.

\------------

When they went down to the convention again to meet with the photographer, The Goblin was already waiting with his two henchmen flanking either side of him. Stuff and Thang, both dressed in their own respective costumes just like before but Mary Ann could see some of the make-up had been refreshed since seeing them earlier. The Goblin still looked as flawlessly bestial as before and she resisted her inner fangirl that wanted to swoon. They started to follow the photographer outside into the night, Donna chatting with him while Mary Ann fell in step with The Goblin, her hand on her sword while the other swayed loose at her side. They were mostly quiet at first, every step punctuated by the strike of his staff when he moved but it wasn’t as annoying as she expected it to be. Mary Ann eventually glanced up at him and he seemed to notice, his throat flexing with a harsh swallow before he lowered his gaze to her.

“Are you okay with whatever he might throw at us?” she asked, hunching her shoulders a bit.

“I’m fine,” he held up a hand to dismiss the hesitation behind her question even though there was a hitch in his voice, betraying nerves. “I guess it’s just been a while since I’ve posed with a woman alone…so I’ll admit I’m nervous.”

“Why haven’t you posed with any women?”

He shook his head, “Old relationship drama, you don’t want to hear about it.”

“Ah, I understand that all too well.” She nodded, noticing how his brow piece rose up higher.

“You?”

“Yeah,” she smiled, “I was an idiot. That’s pretty much all I can say to sum it all up.”

Mary Ann shrugged her shoulders, smiling to herself in grim humor at her own mistake while The Goblin watched her thoughtfully, turning his gaze away when the photographer called their attention to the location. The scouted spot was behind the hotel with a stretch of grass to one side and a concrete wall to the other that rose just high enough to conceal the hotel dumpsters but over the top of the wall lay a clear view of some of the skyscrapers of the city surrounding them. Mary Ann studied the angle, tilting her head and thinking over the spot while Donna was already gushing over how perfect it was. It certainly looked like a good spot for a city backdrop in a picture but so far the lighting didn’t feel right. The Goblin and Violet Wings fought at night. It was early evening but there was still sunlight reflecting off of the windows of the buildings beyond their location.

“I thought this would be a good spot for a night shoot.” The photographer explained, clearing up her unspoken concerns. “We can work on a few with the sisters before it gets dark, that’s when you’ll come in, guys.”

He pointed at the Goblin and his friends, the trio nodding their heads. He soon called over the one dressed as Thang, or Theo, as he was soon revealed to be called by his friends. Theo was made in charge of the reflector for him while Mary Ann fidgeted with her hair a little, making sure her bangs still hung properly before she was soon waved in by Donna to stand with her near the grassy lawn that stretched out in the opposide direction on the concrete with a few trees scattered across it.

Donna and Mary Ann started out keeping it simple. The two sisters stood back to back, Mary Ann with her arms crossed and confident smirk flashing past her mask while Donna smiled sweetly, holding her mask partially up her forehead and putting her finger to her lips while Thang reflected some of the lingering golden light upon them under the photographer’s direction. The glare nearly blinded Mary Ann but she held her position as the camera clicked away. They lowered their wings and Donna wrapped her arms around her from behind, pressing her cheek into her back while Mary Ann smiled but rolled her eyes skyward. They only shifted a little when Mary Ann put her hands lovingly over her sister’s and tilted her head down, craning it towards her sister and Donna propped her chin on her shoulder so that their heads touched together, thoughtful smiles caught by the zoomed-in lens.

The longer they shot, the darker it started to get. Kevin, their photographer who finally remembered to introduce himself properly a little too late, soon abandoned the reflector and Stuff—Stacia—helped him unpack a light from his equipment that he had hauled down to the spot. They stayed in the grass but now he had them lay down together on the lawn, Mary Ann facing one way while Donna lay down so that they were face to face but their bodies faced in opposite angles. It reminded her of a Yin-Yang sign and Theo eagerly helped position the wings for Kevin while they tried to shift into comfortable positions. Stacia carefully angled the light across them while they held hands or Mary Ann put a protective hand over her sister’s cheek. They scooted closer together and curled into more featal-like positions, curling around one another in a tighter spiral before Kevin changed the position again.

All through their shoot, Mary Ann noticed that The Goblin cosplayer was watching them silently from the shadows. He didn’t try to help because Kevin insisted he didn’t move until it was time for him to shoot. Theo and Stacia had more forgiving costumes to move around in and while Mary Ann had personally seen his flexibility at the group shoot, she guessed every costume had its limits. Out of all of them, he was the only one whose name hadn’t been spoken. Stacia had called him BK once but that was another nickname for Bog King, the alter ego of The Goblin in the comicbook. He really was like the actual Goblin in his mystery and hints of awkwardness. Truly spot-on in character in her opinion but at least they seemed to get along a lot better than the Marianne and Bog in the comic.

“Alright, good job, girls!” Kevin called, Mary Ann sighing in relief and stretching her arms over her head while Stacia set the light down and shook out her tired arms.

“Thanks for helping out.” Mary Ann smiled gratefully at Stacia.

“No problem.” She waved it off.

Kevin moved them over to the concrete now, Donna and Mary Ann helping carry equipment in the process this time as he called forth the goblins to get into position. He set it up so that Stuff and Thang would be crouching by the concrete wall, apparently looking on at something together. Thang pointed off camera while Stuff was grabbing at his arm, trying to make him stop pointing with a panicked expression as she looked back over her shoulder. They shifted to trying to hide partially behind the wall, heads peering around the edge and Mary Ann smiled to herself while Donna helped light them up, Kevin encouraging them to exaggerate their curiosity. He grabbed a few more shots of the comedic little duo before it was finally time for The Goblin to be brought in.

BK, as she would mentally call him for the time being, came forward with staff in hand. Mary Ann held onto the camera for Kevin as he guided BK over until he was standing behind his minions, looming over their crouching forms with his staff braced on the ground. At first it didn’t look like much of a pose until Kevin moved over to Donna and helped her angle the light a little more. With the lack of daylight, the evening started to swallow BK up but with the light angled more on his goblins, it turned him into a hulking shadowy figure behind them that sent a chill down Mary Ann’s spine. She clutched the camera a little tighter in her fingers, unaware that Kevin had come back for it until he cleared his throat and she forked it back over, embarrassed.

Kevin worked his magic with the trio of villains, the menacing beginning shot turning into shots of what looked like they were plotting together, BK always standing tall over his hunched underlings. There was another shot where BK was grasping a handful of Thang’s suit, pulling him in close so that they were nearly nose to nose and Donna had to move in closer with the light to make sure their faces were hit with the right amount so that their expressions could be seen.

His expression was frightening even past the flexible mask. His height was enough to make anyone who stood near him look like a dwarf in comparison. His black eyes were cold and unsettling even through the tiny display screen of the DSLR camera, teeth bared in a sneer when Kevin moved in for a close up of The Goblin for a snarl shot.

_He was perfect._

\------------

Bo was sweating like a sinner in church in his costume, the warmth of summer heating him through layers of latex, foam, and worbla. Still, he felt like every second of suffering was worth it when Kevin showed him some of the shots he managed to get through the shoot. He looked absolutely terrible and that was what he had hoped for. The Goblin was not meant to be an appealing character, he was meant to be hideous and frightening in the right angles even though the man underneath was filled to the brim with inner turmoil. Kevin captured The Goblin beautifully and Bo owed him for knowing what to look for behind the camera.

He had posed with Stacia and Thang for several pictures before there were a few of him alone but now that it was night it was time to get the fight shots in. Violet Wings and The Goblin were nocturnal fighters after all. He smiled to himself when Kevin started to contemplate how he wanted them to pose for the first experimental shot. Little “Dawn”—he had no official name for her yet so that would have to do—stood near him, hands clasped in front of her while she listened attentively to Kevin’s direction, eventually craning her head back and flashing him a smile that made him nearly flinch back at its brightness in the gloom of the night. Still, he smiled back at her, trying to make it as warm as he could while dressed as a comicbook villain.

Kevin had “Marianne”—might as well keep the theme going—come over and draw her sword, instructing her not to point it but to have it at her side, the blade to be angled at Bo but not so deliberately as most expected most confrontations to be. Bo then had to wrap his arm around Dawn’s neck, angling the head of the staff towards her head while he smirked at Marianne over the top of her head. Violet Wings was supposed to look beyond pissed back at him and when Kevin moved away to start taking pictures, she did not disappoint. He could see her hand clenching into a fist, the sword low at her side but tip pointing towards him subtly. Kevin hand him alter his hold after asking if Dawn was okay with the idea and she brightly agreed, tilting her head back while Bo moved his arm back and carefully wrapped his fingers around her neck instead, arm still partially caging her to him and it only seemed to make the mask on Violet Wings’ face wrinkle even further, eyes blazing in the glow of the light Thang was holding for Kevin off to the side.

The fire in her gaze drew him in, barely aware of the shutter of the camera with every new picture. He leaned in closer to Dawn, nearly putting his nose in her hair just to test her reaction and saw how she stiffened, her leg shifting a bit behind her like she was ready to spring forward at him if he tried to move any closer. That sibling protectiveness was definitely showing through the façade and he immediately backed off, returning to the original pose with a minuscule nod that triggered relief in the other cosplayer’s stance.  
Shot after shot, pose after pose, Bo was impressed by the Violet Wings cosplayer’s talent when it came to holding still for the camera whenever she reached a pose that Kevin liked. Dawn pulled up screenshots from the comics onto her phone and relayed them to Kevin for more ideas that resulted in some shots similar to those from the group photo shoot. Violet Wings and he locked weapons more than once, every time they released from the pose, she looked positively elated with a brilliant smile that nearly rivaled her sister’s and Bo was left flushed beneath the mask more than once. Her protectiveness of Dawn had ebbed since he didn’t have to hold her captive anymore and the photos had an undertone of fun to them in between the serious expressions and botched attempts that Kevin dismissed when he didn’t like them.

However, Bo should have seen it coming. The inevitable kiss scene that was now prominently displayed on the screen of Dawn’s phone while she showed it to the group with an eager grin splitting her lips wide open and flashing brilliant white teeth. Marianne glanced up from the screen at him and he swallowed, trying to soothe his drying throat at the idea of the intimate pose but Kevin was starting to nod his head, liking the idea and Stacia was grinning from ear to ear. He wanted to snap at her but held back, averting his eyes from his smug friend while Kevin glanced between them.

“Are you guys comfortable with this?”

Marianne looked at him again and he shrugged his shoulders even though his heart was starting to pound its way up into his throat. He hadn’t been close to a woman in years and now he was going to be prone on the ground and underneath one? Oh hell, he was not okay with this! Every muscle in his body geared towards a shake of his head but the hopeful gaze from Dawn and the curious eyes of Marianne eventually left him bowing his head in a confirming nod. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

“If he’s okay with it, I don’t care.” Violet Wings said, holding up her hands.

“Alrighty then, let’s do this!” Kevin clapped his hands together before he directed them over. “Can your wings handle you laying on them, Goblin?”

“Yeah,” he hitched the staff up in his hand and went over to where Kevin was walking until he pointed at the ground. “I’ve experimented with them enough, they’re solid.”

“Good.” Kevin nodded as he lowered himself to the ground, laying on his belly before rolling over onto his back. Using his feet he pushed against the ground to raise his hips until he was arched up and brushed the wings out from beneath his back so that they spread a bit out from under his body. Without them directly under him, he relaxed back into the concrete and stretched his legs out. Kevin moved his staff over, out of his reach and angled it a bit until he was satisfied before he beckoned Violet Wings over. “Okay, Violet, you need to get one knee on either side of him and lean over him.”

She nodded dutifully while Dawn handed her the phone to refer to the picture again. She approached him and Bo held his breath when she stood over him, peering down at his prone body. Her lips pressed together, evidence of a tongue poking out long enough to lick at her lower lip before it was gone again. She stepped over him, one foot on either side of his legs and then she slowly lowered herself into a crouch. The lower she came to him, the more flustered he was beginning to feel under the mask and cowl. He averted his eyes, huffing a breath through his nose but the warmth of her hovering over him drew his attention back and he softly gasped when she leaned over him, hands on either side of his head until she got her balance sorted and rose up on her knees, handing the phone back to Dawn.

“Alright, hang in there, Goblin.” Kevin stated with a smile that made him want to punch that camera lens when it lifted to his eye but then they would have lost an excellent shot. He restrained himself, closing his eyes while Violet Wings positioned herself and he felt her fingers touching at his neck. Her grip was loose but the mere presence of those fingers left him keenly aware of just how hot it was in this costume. Bo opened his eyes; looking up at her while she stared down at him, a few clicks signaling Kevin was starting to shoot. “I need you to look angrier, Violet.”

She obliged and sneered down at him, her fingers tightening a little before she relaxed them again with a mumbled apology. Bo could do little more than stare up at this creature on top of him, beautiful and dressed like one of the strongest women in the comicbook world, not physically but just her essence alone made her look indestructible on the colorful cover pages. Now there she was before him and it was like she was the real thing, everything about her down to a T and he was lying beneath her utterly gobsmacked.

“Let’s get that smirk in there, okay, Goblin?”

He shook away the muddling thoughts of admiration and focused on The Goblin’s cynicism to spare him from his own embarrassing thoughts. Bo stared up at her and stuck his chin up a bit before smirking at the hero pinning him to the ground. He dug deep for the spirit of Bog King to help him through the next few minutes and slowly he managed to feel the confidence seep into his smirk. The camera seemed to be going off a lot faster now and he kept it up, egging her on with his gaze until the words popped into his head before he even realized it.

“Go on, you know you want to do it…” he rasped up at her and watched as her eyes widened behind her mask.

No sooner had he realized what he said that his grip on the character slipped out faster than a wet bar of soap. He had embarrassed himself by using that stupid line and the smugness melted but no faster than how quickly Violet Wings had closed the distance between them. Warm lips slanted over his in a grazing kiss that swept over his mouth and held him fast. He could hear gasps, the shutter of the camera suddenly clicking like mad as if Kevin’s finger was stuck on the button. At the same time he could also hear his heart in his ears and his hands were suddenly cupping at the jaw of the comic goddess kissing him into the ground.

_She’s perfect…_


End file.
